I trust you
by accident prone
Summary: /DotNW/ Sometimes, returning someone's trust is the best thing you can do for someone. In-game, Zelloyd. Includes not-really-Kratos-in-disguise Lloyd AKA: Our Lloyd. [Indefinite hiatus]
1. Prologue

**A/N: Gasps! I haven't written anything in almost a week! How weird...  
**

**Just a few things before getting to the actual story…**

**This is in-game, Dawn of the New World/Knight of Ratatosk (second one sounds cooler) Zelloyd-y goodness. Because (a), I love that pairing and (b), Zelos was the only person who actually really trusted Lloyd throughout the whole thing. Don't like it? Don't read it! Simple rule of thumb, right?**

**A few things are changed. Like, first the main pairing in the story. No, it is not Emil/Marta. Because Lloyd and Zelos are **_**so **_**much cooler than Emil and Marta. And second, Lloyd is less…smart in this story than he was in DotNW. I tried to make him more like he was in the first game, which had him being **_**totally **_**awesome rather than all "Hi, I'm serious and actually kind of smart now. Surprise!" Yeah, that kind of annoyed me. Can you tell?**

**I DO NOT own any of these cool characters. Or the game. (I just lost the Game now, by the way. In case anyone cares.) Other than how it's, you know, in my Wii.**

**I guess that's all. Enjoy!**

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Every fact out there pointed towards Lloyd's guilt. Any normal person would have decided quickly that Lloyd had indeed attacked Palmacosta—and, indeed, most people, normal or not, had. However, despite the fact that Zelos liked to believe that he was normal (at least to a certain extent) he certainly didn't believe the rumors about Lloyd.

It was true that Lloyd had gone off awhile back after talking something over with Yuan. Zelos still had no idea what the two had talked about, but Lloyd had seemed unhappy and frustrated about the fact that he had to put the Exsphere Quest on hold. He'd promised to meet Zelos in Meltokio when all this was done, though he'd warned it could be awhile.

And now, with the reports of Lloyd Irving having attacked Palmacosta in the famous Blood Purge?

Zelos refused to believe that Lloyd would do that. Sure, it would be easy enough for anyone else. But those people didn't know Lloyd, and even if they did…

He pressed the rolled-up newspaper against his forehead, forcing himself to remember. To remember what Lloyd had said, what he had _done_…

It had been early in their Exsphere Quest. Things had been going well. Lloyd hadn't gotten driven _too _crazy by Zelos, or at least he hadn't thrown Zelos out the window in frustration. That was something at least.

Lloyd had been studying Zelos with that unrecognizable look on his face. One Zelos had seen often before, but never directed at him. That explained why it was so difficult to place. It was such a…strange look. One Zelos didn't recognize.

"What?" Zelos had snapped after a time.

"You're thinking about something," Lloyd had said finally, resting his chin on his gloved hands.

"Is that _so _strange?"

There was a ghost of a smile on Lloyd's lips. "Don't change the subject. What're you thinking about?"

"Hmph." Lloyd thought he could read Zelos so easily. Well, okay, maybe he could, but still.

"Come on, Zelos. A piece of gald for your thoughts."

"My thoughts are more expensive than that."

Lloyd fixed him with that stare again, and Zelos sighed inwardly. "You're strange, Lloyd."

"Strange?" Lloyd had seemed indignant. "I am not! If anyone's strange, it's you!"

Zelos swallowed back the urge to snicker. "I'm not strange."

"You are too."

"No, I'm—"

"Are too. Are too. Are too."

Lloyd could be surprisingly annoying at times.

"I was just wondering how you could have possibly still trusted me after I betrayed you!" Zelos finally snapped.

There was a widening of Lloyd's grin. "Gotcha."

"Dammit, Lloyd."

Lloyd's expression turned serious and thoughtful. It happened every so often. They'd have these serious, even deep conversations. They just seemed to come out of nowhere. "But, regarding your question…I guess I just remembered the times we'd had together."

It was Zelos's turn to stare at Lloyd. "Wait, what?"

"I mean, after I stopped being pissed off about Colette getting kidnapped—_again_—I guess I just remembered everything we'd done together. I mean…" Lloyd shrugged, a little uncomfortable now. "I don't know. It's just that you can't spend that much time with someone and just throw it all away. At least that's what I think."

"Huh." Zelos sat back to consider that one for a moment. He finally settled for turning on his side, facing away from Lloyd, yanking the covers over his shoulders. "You really are strange, Lloyd."

"I'm _talking_, here!"

"Hush. It's _bedtime_, Lloyd. I'm asleep, see?"

In the darkness, Zelos could only hear Lloyd's soft puff of exasperation.

It had been one day in many. Nothing made it stand out from any other day…except maybe for that conversation.

_It's just that you can't spend that much time with someone and just throw it all away…_

Yes, Zelos mused now, perhaps he was right.

Remember everything Lloyd had done, said, and stood for…

"Lloyd did not destroy Palmacosta," Zelos said aloud to himself. No, of course not. While all facts might point to that…

Whoever had destroyed Palmacosta could _not _have been Lloyd.

That, perhaps, was the most profound and important fact of all.

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**A/N: Ehhh…sort of short…it's more of a prologue sort of thing…anyway, reviews are nice. Very nice. (nod, nod) So, uh, I guess you know what happens next, right? (It has to do with the review button….right…there! See it? See it?)**


	2. Lloyd?

**A/N: Whoaaa…it's been, like, a month since I updated this story…in case anyone cares. I've been kind of uninspired lately. Hate it when that happens.**

**Anyway, I don't own anything.**

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There he was. Walking down the streets of Meltokio. Zelos could only stare.

_Lloyd._

Breaking himself out of the trance, he ran towards his friend. "_Bud_!" he shouted, grabbing Lloyd's shoulder from behind and pulling the shorter into a one-armed hug. "I've missed you!"

"What do you want, you stupid Chosen?" Lloyd growled, glaring up at Zelos.

His heart stopped beating for a moment, and he stared at the younger man. Did Lloyd just _say _that? Did Lloyd hate him now? If so, why had he agreed to go on the quest for Exspheres with Zelos, why had he actually cared when Zelos had gotten possessed by Mithos, why, why, why…

Pushing away all the questions, he forced a grin—as usual—and joked, "Oh, come on now, who are you, and what have you done with Lloyd?"

Lloyd froze and there was a forced smile on his face. "Oh, nothing, nothing, Chosen! I'm just, you know, on edge. Ha ha!"

Zelos felt his eyes narrowing. Lloyd forcing a smile? Something wasn't right here. And on that note…

"Chosen?" he repeated slowly. "You've never been one for formalities, Lloyd…"

"Oh…heh heh…Zelos, I'm sorry. I've just been…well, on edge!"

"Since when have you been on edge? All the years of homework you never did catching up to you?" Zelos realized his voice was cold and mocking as he said the words. _What am I doing_? "Lloyd…this isn't like you…you've never had to force a smile before…"

Lloyd stiffened then, and said coolly, "Is that all?"

"Lloyd."

"I have to go, Chos—Zelos. Goodbye." As Lloyd yanked free, a wave of dizziness passed over Zelos, and he fell to his knees.

_My vision's going blurry…and what the hell is that horrible stench? Is that…is that _Lloyd?

Lloyd's red boots going past his head were the last things he saw before he passed out, trying desperately not to throw up.

He awoke in his bed. He pressed a hand to his forehead, groaning. Horrible headache. Just what had that smell been? And why had Lloyd been so…cold?

_That was not Lloyd. That can't have been Lloyd. Lloyd does not smell like a garbage truck. Or worse. _

Zelos sat up cautiously. Dammit, just what was going on?

_And since when does Lloyd not care about his friends when they pass out right in front of him, even if it's me?_

Things were very strange. If that hadn't been Lloyd then who?

"Zelos, you shouldn't move," his sister said softly, entering his room.

"That wasn't Lloyd," Zelos muttered, holding his hand against his throbbing head. "Lloyd…is different."

"Zelos!"

He forced another smile, this one for Seles's sake. "I'm fine, Seles. Don't worry."

"Get some sleep, brother."

And she was gone. Zelos collapsed against his pillows again.

_Lloyd…_

It was the last thought he had before he fell asleep once again

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**A/N: Short again, I know. Whatever. I appriciate reviews…they help me update faster. So…**

…**review?**


	3. Where is he?

**A/N: Look! It's the second review in a month! :O Amazing, ne?**

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"Have you seen Lloyd anywhere?"

Zelos raised a brow at Regal's question. "Should I have?"

"You were collecting Exspheres with him."

"And right now I'm not."

"So you don't know where he is."

"Not at the moment, no. I—" A smellspread through the room, a disgustingly _familiar _smell, and his nostrils flared. "What is that _smell_?"

"Hmm?" Regal glanced down at the small vial in his hand and grimaced. "Oh. My apologies. This—"

Zelos was suddenly staring very intently at the vial, eyes narrowed. "What is that?" he growled, voice dangerous.

"It's a failed product of my company. A cologne we call 'eau de seduction.' However—"

"So it's a cologne?" Zelos looked interested, even thoughtful now. "Regal, it smells worse than a pile of shi—actually, scratch that. It smells worse than the Meltokio _sewers_."

"That's exactly where we intend to put all of it."

"Hm. It'll make it more difficult to sneak into town…but they were planning to seal up the sewers anyway. Make sure to do it soon."

"Yes, we plan to."

"So this cologne…" Zelos was still staring at it intently. "I see. I assumed he just hadn't cleaned at all, but it was this…Regal."

Completely lost, Regal responded, "yes?"

"Is this crap popular at all?"

"No, after a few vials, it became famous as a terrible product, and we made very few sales. Most people returned it, and—"

"Who did you sell it to?" Zelos demanded.

"Why does that matter?"

"No reason. Just curious."

"I don't know who it was sold to. There weren't many sales, however, as I said, despite the promise that it would make the wearer of the cologne irresistable to…everyone."

"Hah."

"Where are you getting with—"

"Oh, nowhere, nowhere!" the Chosen's voice was cheery again, all the previous thoughtfulness and interest gone. "You'd better hurry to dump that stuff if you want to be able to. They were talking about sealing the sewers tonight."

Regal paused. "Yes," he said finally. "I'll do that."

Zelos smiled as the former convict left. He hadn't been this cheerful for a long time.

_It was an imposter it was an imposter it was an _imposter_…_

Lloyd didn't wear cologne.

Lloyd barely even _knew _of cologne.

Furthermore, Lloyd wasn't interested in getting people to be attracted to him. He'd said as much.

_All the others can doubt Lloyd, but I'll know he's still him…_

Although, that didn't answer the questions of where he was and how—or why—there'd been an imposter in the first place.

Goodbye, good mood.

* * *

"Zelos," Sheena said, looking at the Chosen, who was sprawled out on the couch with a cool, indifferent look on his face. "It's been awhile."

"What do you want?"

"Are you feeling all right?"

"Fine. What do you want?"

That was strange. Usually he'd be grinning that stupid grin and flirting with her within seconds. She debated asking what was up to make him so…serious for once, but decided against it. She was here for a reason. "Have you heard from Lloyd recently?"

"Why?"

Dammit, why couldn't he just say? "You heard the stories about what he's done, right?"

"They're lying."

"Can you really say that with certainty?"

"Are you saying you can't?"

She put her hands on her hips. "I'm _saying _that if they _are _true, I want to smack Lloyd back into place."

Zelos eyed her coldly for a minute, then stood up slowly. She'd forgotten how tall he was. "Do you know how many people have come by demanding that I tell them where Lloyd is?"

"N...no. A lot?"

"No one trusts Lloyd, and I don't have any reason to give information to someone who could just as easily hurt Lloyd as help him."

Sheena raised a brow, trying to hide her surprise. "Are you trying to protect him? Do you really think it'll help him to have people who _could _be helping him being unable to even find him?"

"You don't trust Lloyd."

"If I have to smack some sense into him, I'll…"

"He doesn't need any sense smacked into him, Sheena." He wasn't even looking at her anymore, though his voice was still cold. "He didn't attack Palmacosta. He doesn't need your help."

"You don't know th—"

"Oh, but I do. I trust Lloyd, and I have a good reason for doing so. I don't have any reason to trust _you_, and as such, I'm afraid you'll have to find Lloyd on your own. Show yourself out."

"Zelos—"

"Go, already. You've got the Mizuho Information Network behind you, don't you?"

"Just one thing. One question." He didn't reply, so she just continued on. "What's your reason for trusting Lloyd so much? Last I checked, you weren't that trusting of a person."

"I'm still not. Oh, will you look at the time? I've got a meeting with Clara. If you'll excuse me."

"Zelos! Why the heck do you trust Lloyd so much?"

There was a brief pause. He didn't even look back at her when he replied.

"Because he's Lloyd."

She could only stare after him when he left.

He called that a good reason?

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**A/N: Another short chapter…ah, well. Review if you want to. It'd make me happy.**


	4. Colette and Clara

**A/N: Another rather short chapter. Sorry about that…anyway, I'd like to thank the reviewers! I got more reviews than, like, ever last chapter. So…thanks, guys!**

**I don't own Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, by the way, but that's okay. Because if I owned that, I'd own Marta, and I wouldn't wish that on **_**anyone.**_

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"Whoops!"

Something crashed into Zelos's back, sending him crashing him to the ground with a grunt, something heavy on top of him.

"Oh, Zelos! I'm so sorry! I—"

"Colette." He stood, dumping the blonde angel off him. "What's up?"

It was almost certainly about Lloyd. That was the only reason they came to talk to him.

"Um, I was just wondering if you'd seen Lloyd."

Bingo. Zelos sighed."No, I haven't. Not in awhile."

"Well…where did you see him last?"

_In my dreams. _"It was awhile back. Don't even bother."

He reumed walking, and she retracted her wings and walked beside him, frowning. "I'm worried about him. I hope he didn't really attack those towns…"

_This is getting old. _"He didn't."

"Yeah, you're probably right…"

_Why do I have more faith in him than his childhood friend? This is so stupid_. "I've never been wrong before. Just put your faith in me, my beautiful angel!"

"Sheena said you were a moron," Colette said solemnly.

"Sheena doesn't like me very much."

"But Lloyd said you were brilliant."

"He did?"

"Mm-hm! He said you knew even more math than Genis!"

That was just so flattering. "Is that all?"

"But he said you sucked at history."

"Doesn't he, too?"

"Lloyd has a history phobia, thanks to Professor Raine."

Zelos snickered. He supposed that was understandable. That woman was terrifying.

"Um…Zelos?"

"Hm?"

"Do you want to look for Lloyd with me?" Her voice was hesitant. "I know you…care about him, too."

Zelos frowned. "I don't know."

"There are some other people looking for Lloyd, too!" she said. "They think that Lloyd destroyed the cities, and, well…they don't like Lloyd very much, and might want to kill him, but they're very good people!"

"How can they be good people if they want to kill Lloyd?"

"And they have a doggie summon spirit named Tenebie!"

Zelos had a difficult time thinking of anything to say to that, so he just settled for an "oh."

"They really are nice people. Marta pushed me into a bookcase at first, but we're friends now!"

Marta, he presumed, was one of the people looking for Lloyd. "Did she?" he said.

Colette nodded. "And she has a friend named Emil. They seem like good friends."

"Good friends with a summon spirit dog and out to get Lloyd?" He rose a brow. "They sound absolutely charming."

She nodded eagerly. "Oh, they are!"

Apparently Colette still couldn't grasp the concept of sarcasm. Some things never changed.

"So…what are you going to do?" he asked finally.

"I've been looking around for Lloyd. I'm starting out by asking everyone if they've seen him, but no one has yet." She seemed a bit sad at this, but shook her head. "Why won't he talk to us?"

Zelos shrugged. He'd been wondering as much. "Who knows?"

"Maybe it's because he actually did do those things…"

"Are you _kidding_ me? Are we even talking about the same person?"

Colette blinked. "Why else wouldn't he talk to us? He's always counted on us before…"

_No, you all counted on him. There's a difference there. _"Still," he said evenly. "I trust Lloyd, and I'm not going to call him a murderer until someone shows me hard proof."

Colette sighed. "I don't know what to think."

"Think what you want."

"I'll just ask him once I find him…"

"You have fun with that."

"So…you're not coming?"

"No. I'll wait for Lloyd here."

"Well…" she paused, pulling her pink wings out. "…good luck, Zelos. Let me know if you hear anything from him."

He shrugged. "All right," he lied, watching as she took to the skies with a wave. Like he'd tell someone who trusted Lloyd so little where he was. Flipping some of his hair over his shoulder, he placed his hands in his pockets, cautiously opening his wings with a grimace.

Palmacosta.

* * *

"Wait—let me get this straight. You want me to rescue a couple of _brats _who just so happen to hate Lloyd?" Zelos crossed his arms and scowled. "No. No way."

Clara glared at him. "They're important people."

"Should I even care? They're after Lloyd, aren't they?"

"They might have information on him."

"Like their information would even be right."

"You don't know that it would be wrong."

"I'm fairly sure. They don't even know Lloyd."

"They seem to have met him before."

That was interesting. Zelos wondered whether it had actually been Lloyd…or the imposter. Still… "And I should care because?"

"You want to find him, don't you?" she pressed.

"And if I do? Talking to a couple of kids who _might _have some information that's probably wrong about Lloyd won't really help me that much."

"Even incorrect information is better than no information at all."

"Yeah, if I wanted to go on a wild goose chase. Sorry, my beautiful lady, but I really don't."

"Are you saying that sitting around your mansion doing nothing and hoping Lloyd will turn up is better than trying to get information?"

He was beginning to realize that she was very determined to make him go. Of course, it stood to reason that a woman whose family had been killed while she was a rampaging monster would be tough. "Yeah, maybe. And if he turns up at my place while I'm off looking into a false lead? Besides, information gathering is more Sheena's forte."

"If he really wants to find you, he'll wait for you at your house. Besides, one of those _brats_, as you so delicately put it, is the daughter of the leader of the Vanguard."

"Why should I care about something like that?"

"She's cute, too."

Was that _all _people thought of him? "I've met her. She's all right. Not really my type, though."

Clara's brows raised. "You've met her? When?"

"Oh, about five minutes ago. She was with some whiny brat, too."

"Whiny brat? Oh, you mean Emil."

"Was that his name?"

"He's not so bad."

"I wouldn't know. If he's trying to kill Lloyd—"

"You don't _know _they're trying to kill Lloyd. They could be trying to track him down."

"To kill him."

"Not necessarily. Besides, perhaps you could set them straight. Tel them what you think of Lloyd."

"Right, like they'd listen." _Listen up, you two…don't kill Lloyd! He's great, awesome, probably fantastic in bed, absoulutely drop-dead gorgeous and hot, has an amazing personality, basically saved my life, is hot-headed and stubborn as hell, and can pull the suspenders look off. You can't kill him! He's Lloyd! _Right, mm-hm. They'd definitely listen to that.

"They might if they knew you were one of Lloyd's former companions."

"I'm not a _former _companion, Clara," he snapped.

"Nonetheless, they should listen if they know you know Lloyd well."

"Hmph." Zelos uncrossed and recrossed his arms. "Where'd they go off to?"

"Dynasty ruins." She smiled. "They should have a fisherman with them. Take some of my men."

"Yeah, yeah…"

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**A/N: Uh…reviews would be nice…so review if you wanna. Yep.**


	5. Bastard friends

**A/N: I'm not sure whether I really like this one. And I really am sorry for the late update. Ahhh, I know I don't update this that much, but I'm kind of a perfectionist when it comes to this story. Still, I had the hardest time with this chapter. It's actually one of my favorite scenes in the game—the "Bastard Friends" scene—but I still had a hard time with it. I didn't want to do a total copy of the game script, because…well, how original would that be? So…yeah, let me know what you think of this chapter. I thought it sucked, but I don't know.**

**Oh, yeah, and I own nothing.**

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Watching the battle between the Vanguard girl and the two kids, Zelos couldn't really tell much other than one thing.

Emil _sucked _at fighting.

Even more so than Lloyd had, starting out. Emil left himself open at nearly every opportunity, rarely used any attack other than the giant slashing one, and attacked wildly. It was sadto watch. At least Lloyd had been able to kick butt sometimes. And at least he hadn't needed to be healed every freaking second. And he didn't fall to his ass from an attack from a _toy rapier_.

Zelos sighed, leaning against the wall, bored. He could help the kids, but he really didn't feel like it, and, well…they could probably survive this. If it looked like they were about to die, he could probably just step in.

One of the men that had come along nudged him. "Ah…Chosen? Should we not help them?"

Zelos shrugged. "They'll be fine. They're going up against a girl fighting with a toy and a really wimpy monster. Besides, that Marta girl can heal." Not as well as Raine, or probably even as well as Zelos, but at least it was there.

"Okay…" the man said dubiously.

"First aid!" a voice shrieked out.

Zelos sighed again. Weren't they smart enough to be able to figure out to interrupt someone while they were casting? Especially when it was a healing spell…

"Dammit, stop healing yourself!"

"Make me!"

This was gonna make him cry.

It looked like it was going to be a long battle. With yet another sigh, Zelos sat cross-legged on the ground and placed his chin in his hands. No point in standing when the battle was obviously going to take far longer than it should.

_If it were me and Lloyd against her, she'd be dead in seconds. Honestly, those kids need to learn how to fight. If they really are after Lloyd, they've got no chance._

At least he could take comfort in that.

* * *

After the Vanguard girl had left—Alice, was it?—Zelos was left to study the two kids in front of him. Still, that Alice girl…creepy. Mr. Handsome Chosen? Was that really all he was to people still? Couldn't they get it through their damned thick skulls that technically he wasn't Chosen anymore?

Hah, yeah, probably not.

The kids were looking at him with something like awe. He had to keep himself from snapping at them for staring at him like that. Just because they were looking for Lloyd didn't necessarily mean they were all bad. He hadn't liked Lloyd at first, either. It was possible that these two could grow on him too. Probably not as much as Lloyd had, but—it was still a possibility, wasn't it?

"You're—you're—you're…" the girl was sputtering. _Marta, _he reminded himself. Goddess Martel, what a dumb name. "Z—Zelos Wilder…"

Inwardly he winced. He really had to tone the flirting down if the girls were going to get _this _flustered. He could already imagine the glare with narrowed eyes Lloyd would be giving him. The same glare he got every time he flirted with a girl.

"Yeah, that's me. And? I hear you're looking for—" Oh, probably a bad idea to bring up the subject of Lloyd so soon. He didn't want to sound like a stalker or an overprotective parent (coughcoughKRATOScoughcough), even in front of these kids. "—a fisherman," he finished lamely, mentally smacking himself with his gloved hand.

"Oh…yeah, we found him." The boy gave Zelos a timid smile. "He's injured, though."

_Is he gay? If he's gay, I'm running. And…god, he's got the most whiny, annoying voice I've ever heard. _"Yeah, okay. Whatever. I'm glad to see you two are so _good _in battle." Sarcasm. If they were anything like Colette—or Lloyd, even—they wouldn't really grasp that.

"Ll—Ll—Ll—" Marta was sputtering some more.

Zelos quirked a brow at her. "Yes, my dear?" Oops. He'd just decided to not do that, too…

She made some unintelligible sounds. Zelos stole a glance at the ridiculously dressed boy. Ahh. That was jealousy if he knew jealously at all. Funny. At least he wasn't gay.

It was also…Zelos blinked suddenly, realizing that that was the same glare Lloyd gave him every time he flirted with a…

"You're Lloyd's friend!" she gasped out finally, then shook her head vigorously, closing her eyes. "I…um, right?"

"Yes, his best bud, that's me," Zelos drawled, pointing his sword into the dirt and leaning on it. "And?"

She finally met his eyes without mumbling or blushing. More than most girls could do. Her blue eyes were very _young _and determined. Almost like Colette's. Except…more so. Without the weight of being Chosen. "Where is he?"

Was that really all he was good for? "Why do you want to know?" Like they'd tell the truth. _Oh, yeah, we totally want to kill your best friend. So, where is he? _Riiiight.

"He…stole something from us," she mumbled. "It's important."

"Stole something. You realize he's Dwarven-trained, don't you? He can make anything fifty times better than anything you'll find in a store." And the intense look he'd get while carving something, while concentrating, _really _concentrating on it, like Raine wished he'd do for his homework…ahh, it really was making Zelos realize just how much he missed the idiot.

"It's a jewel," she shot back. "He can't make jewels, can he?"

Zelos let out a puff of amusement, gripping his sword a bit tighter, trying not to let them see how much this was all getting to him. "He can make an imitation that'll fool any jeweler." Maybe not, but Dirk probably could. "Furthermore—he's just a country bumpkin. He lives in a hut in the middle of a forest. He wouldn't steal a jewel. He wouldn't have any _reason _to. Lloyd's too dumb to pull anything like that off, anyway. Unless he got incredibly lucky."

"You don't believe us?"

"Whoever stole your jewelwasn't Lloyd. That's all I have to say. I suggest you find whoever took it and go from there."

"It wasn't a jewel, exactly," Emil said suddenly. Still timid, but a bit more sure this time. "It was…more like a…um…"

"An amulet," Marta said quickly. "It was a magical amulet."

Zelos raised a brow. "Still not convinced it was Lloyd. If the amulet's _so _important to you, just buy a new one."

"It's a one of a kind!"

"Then that's really too bad for you. If it was Lloyd who took it—which it wasn't—then he would have had good reasons. He wouldn't just steal something for the heck of it. He wouldn't steal something out of greed. He felt bad about asking _me _for money, and I've got almost as much money as the princess herself."

Emil twitched.

"It was Lloyd!" she shouted. "We _saw _him!"

"And? That doesn't exactly prove anything." _Especially if that "Lloyd" smelled of a terrible, absolutely failed cologne. _

"What do you _mean _it doesn't prove anything? It proves everything! It—"

"Hey, now. Don't get mad. Who's known Lloyd longer, you or me? Besides, this is a kid who recited Dwarven Vows all the time. Number eleven: lying is the first step down the path of thievery. Lloyd doesn't steal, my dear."

She scowled at him, and opened her mouth to retort, when the blond kid interrupted, voice cold.

"Why the hell are you even defending that _fucking bastard_?"

Okay, that was it. It really was. It was _impossible _for him to like them.

Zelos gave small smile instead, and said nothing. He didn't even start strangling the brat. _Fucking bastard? Who the hell does he think he is? Lloyd's…Lloyd._

"He killed all the people in Palmacosta." Emil was snarling now, face facing the ground, turned away, hair falling over his cheeks. "He killed all my friends. He killed my family—he killed my _parents_!"

"That was not Lloyd."

"Why is it so hard for you to believe us?" Marta cried. "We saw what he did, firsthand! I was _in _Palmacosta! We both were! We…"

"And you expect me to believe that was Lloyd."

"You've talked to the people in Palmacosta, the survivors! Haven't you? As far as I can tell, you're the only one dumb enough to still be in denial over it! Sure, he was your friend, but he _changed_!"

Zelos gave her a cold look. "And what," he purred, feeling cold fury take his insides, "makes you think you know so much more than I do? Have you ever met him?"

"Yes! I have! I met him in Palmacosta! I met him when he stole Lu—the amulet! I have, in fact, met him!"

"That doesn't mean you know him. I believe this conversation is _over_, Marta, my dear sweet angel."

"Look…I'm sorry." Her voice was soft. "But people _change_. My…I've seen it happen before. I really am sorry. But you can't stay in denial like that. We just want to stop him from hurting anyone ever again. We want to…do something good. For everyone."

"No," he said softly. "No, you don't. You want revenge on Lloyd for something he didn't do."

"Have you not been listening to us?" shouted Emil suddenly, head jerking up. "He _killed _everybody! What is he, to you, anyway? A god?"

A god? Oh, now, that was funny. Funniest thing he'd heard all day. He'd long since lost his faith in any gods. Especially since he learned the nature of the Chosen's journey.

"Gods are overrated, kid," he said, stepping past them and not even bothering to look into Emil's red eyes. "Lloyd's way better than a god. Lloyd…is Lloyd. Can't get better than that."

Dramatically flipping some hair over his shoulder, Zelos turned to go, and—

He stopped.

What the hell?

Red eyes?

Zelos turned around slowly. Okay, yeah. Those were red eyes. Really red eyes. He could handle that. He'd seen red eyes before. Colette had had red eyes when she was soulless. Or had they been pink? Well, it _had _been creepy. But…okay. Calm. Red eyes did _not _necessarily mean he was some demon from Niflheim or whatever. Red just meant…red.

Red was the color of Lloyd's outfit.

_Is everything gonna remind me of him? _

Red eyes. Focus. Hadn't they been green before? Yes, they _had_. And Emil either had huge mood swings or this was very, very strange. Ah, screw it, it was strange anyway. Peoples' eyes don't usually shift color that suddenly. And the moods…were more or less flipsides of each other. This was weird. Really weird.

Emil was still glaring, hand clenched tightly on sword. "Why the hell," he growled, "do you even trust him so much?"

How many people had asked him that question?

One too many.

He turned around without a word. So the kids were freaks. So they were after Lloyd. So they wouldn't fucking listen to him. That was fine, absolutely fine. It just meant that he sort of hated them.

"You've got no chance against Lloyd," he said finally. "You never will."

"And just what makes you so sure of that!" Emil screamed at him.

"Because," Zelos said reasonably. "Dwarven vow number seven."

"What?" Marta said, sounding completely confused. Zelos couldn't help but smile.

"Love and goodness will always win." Striding forward, he ignored the protests of the kids behind him and gestured to the men Clara had sent with him.

He was leaving those brats behind. They didn't matter.

And besides, he had no time to waste on people who swore revenge on his "bastard" friends.

* * *

**A/N: Well, there ya go. Reviews rock. I love all of you reviewers. This is definitely getting more reviews than I expected…^^**


	6. Fatherly

**A/N: TT__TT I…am terrible at updating this. Especially compared to all my other stories…uh. I kinda liked writing this chapter, but it's wayyy different from what I usually write. It's not very dialogue-heavy…I don't know whether I did a good job on it or not. And **_**hopefully **_**I kept everyone in character…yeah, I'll shut up now. **

**Disclaimer: I own…nothing. Wow.**

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Zelos stormed—_stormed_—into the house.

Seles stared at her brother, fingers fiddling with her straw hat in her lap. She opened her mouth to say something. Changed her mind, closed it. Changed her mind again, and asked quietly, "So, how did it go?"

"Oh, fine," he spat, ripping his gloves off and throwing them in the laundry bin without looking. "Absolutely…_fine_."

"Um…" That…sounded like sarcasm. She still felt like she didn't know him too well; he'd changed a lot in the past few years, but one thing had never changed—his constant use of bitter sarcasm. "So…" What was there to say to that? Nothing, she concluded, and closed her mouth before anything _too _stupid could slip out.

"I'm going upstairs." His words were abrupt, and his back remained to them as he walked up the stairs, body seeming very…controlled.

Sebastian, next to her, was frowning, which was nothing new, watching Zelos go up to his room and close the door, almost slamming it. His fingers were steepled, and he…looked worried, almost. About Zelos? It hadn't even occurred to her that there was a reason for worry. She looked at him, fingers still playing with the hat.

"Is he like this often?" she asked in a whisper.

"Like what?" His voice was curt. As if there was nothing to say.

"Um…he seemed…angry." Feeling stupid now, Seles shook her head. "I…never mind."

Sebastian pursed his lips for a moment, then went into the kitchen without a word.

Seles sighed, wishing she didn't always feel so lonely here, hoping Tokunaga would come back soon.

* * *

Sebastian couldn't keep his attention on cleaning the countertops. It usually wasn't an issue. He usually had enough thoughts to occupy him, and besides, he liked seeing the dirt come away with a few scrubs of his rag. He liked the subtle scent of the cleaning solution he used. He'd often gotten interesting conversations to listen to as well, as the living room was only a room over. Seles and Zelos didn't have quite the amusement value as Lloyd and Zelos, of course, but then again, no one had quite the amusement value as those two. He'd always had to try to silence his chuckles, without much success.

There was plenty to occupy his thoughts now, of course, which was probably just as well, considering there was only Seles in the living room. Probably feeling awkward. Sebastian felt sorry for the girl, but he could never think of much to say to her. He hadn't seen her grow up like he'd seen Zelos grow up. He'd only met her a handful of times before this. He knew she was important to Zelos, but nonetheless, she was a girl—or maybe a young woman—and he had always had terrible luck with the ladies. Terrible luck. Even Zelos's tips hadn't helped. Girls had always laughed at his clumsy attempts.

Laughed.

Perhaps it was just as well.

Sebastian frowned a bit more and scrubbed at a particularly stubborn spot on the counter without really seeing it. He remembered how that spot had gotten there. Lloyd had attempted to cook, wanting something to eat. It had been Sebastian's day off. Otherwise, Lloyd never would have gotten anywhere near the modern cooking equipment. It was obvious the boy wasn't used to cooking on anything more high tech than a campfire.

He still remembered the burning smell after he'd come home after a relaxing day. He'd panicked, to find a charred black spot on the counter and a foul smell coming from that room, a giant pile of dirty dishes in the sink. Lloyd had been sifting around in the fridge, and Zelos had flashed Sebastian a sudden grin, looking surprisingly…cheerful. And happy.

"It's okay," he'd reassured Sebastian, who could only stare at his trashed kitchen in horror and dismay. "I think we got it all under control."

With Lloyd, Zelos had always been more emotional. More happy, more irritated, more depressed sometimes, more…everything.

Sebastian had always thought of himself as a bit of a guardian to Zelos. He didn't feel like he'd done a great job guarding the Chosen, but at least he'd managed to keep the boy alive. An impressive feat, really, especially considering how determined the Pope—and even the ordinary bandit—had been.

He'd always thought of Zelos as the son he'd never had.

He'd always been there, listening, or _trying _to. The first real girlfriend Zelos had had, how heartbroken he'd been when he realized she was in love with the Chosen, not him.

His first hangover. The first time he'd come home with Lloyd and their friends, and when…

All those little moments.

It looked like it was time for another one of those moments.

Sighing, Sebastian abandoned the cloth rag on the counter and headed upstairs after Zelos.

That black spot on the counter was never going to come out anyway.

* * *

_Yeah. Oh, yeah, totally. Lloyd would _definitely _steal some random amulet. Because that sooo sounds like Lloyd._

Those stupid brats…

"_Look, I'm sorry. But people change."_

He'd seen Lloyd recently. Recently! And besides, he was willing to bet anything that those idiots hadn't even _met _Lloyd.

Scowling at the wall, vest thrown to the ground, Zelos felt his fingers slowly gouging their way into the skin of his upper arms. He heard the door open, but didn't find any reason to turn and acknowledge the person.

_I'm trying to be _depressed_, here._

"Zelos." The calming, surprisingly deep voice of Sebastian. Zelos frowned. The butler should _know_ that he didn't like being bothered when…ah, whatever. He obviously wasn't going away. Zelos made a show of sighing and tossing his head, flipping some hair over his shoulder.

"Zelos," Sebastian repeated.

"Hey, man. You feeling okay? You just called me by name. You never do that." It was always _Chosen_ or _Master Zelos_.

"I do it all the time," Sebastian said wryly. "It's just that you're either drunk, hung over, or worrying about more important things to notice."

Zelos paused. He remembered a thing or two like that, yeah. Vaguely. Mostly the times he'd been pissed off or flipping out over some situation or other on the journey. Pacing, throwing his hands in the air, snarling over what an asshole Kratos or Yuan was, wondering how in hell Lloyd could be so…Lloyd, so oblivious, so caring, so stubborn…wondering how in _hell _he'd fallen for him, and…

Sebastian sighed at the long silence. "I take it your meeting with Dorr's widow didn't go particularly well."

Zelos grunted and grudgingly faced the older man. Clean, pressed clothes without a bit of carpet fuzz on them, large hands, fingers steepled, graying dark hair and lines just appearing at the forehead and sides of the mouth, dark eyes still as sharp as always…nothing ever seemed to change about him. He'd looked the same as far back as Zelos could remember. The one thing in his life that had ever stayed the same, comfortably so.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. I…" Zelos paused, wondering just how much he should tell the butler, who closed his eyes for a moment, then pulled up a chair.

"I take it she had something to say about Sir Bu—ah, Lloyd."

Zelos couldn't help but smile at that. "Yeah. Turns out there are a couple of brats trying to kill—or at least find—him."

Sebastian was watching him carefully. "And do they have any chance?"

And that was when it all came spilling out, a million words a second, it felt like.

"…and it turns out Lloyd has this lookalike imposter who wears this terrible cologne that Regal's company produced, and everyone thinks that Lloyd did all that crap but it _wasn't him_, Lloyd would never do that stuff, and, and then there were his old friends, and they weren't sure whether or not Lloyd did any of that, and they were all _doubting him_, and it was so _stupid_ and then there was Clara and she was all like 'you should go see those kids' and I went to see them and they're total brats and they thought that Lloyd stole some fancy amulet or something and one of them had red eyes and they _both _had really whiny voices, and sucked at fighting, and I said the cheesiest Dwarven Vow ever and I don't even know why, and…and…" Zelos gasped, feeling a sudden need for air, then groaned, head falling onto his arms. "Ohhh, man. This is such a mess."

Sebastian was rubbing his back in a very fatherly way until Zelos finally looked up a few minutes later.

"Zelos." Sebastian's voice was warm, and…as fatherly as the back rub had been. "Do you remember when you told me how you'd fallen for Lloyd and how Kratos drove you crazy?"

"I swear, I was drunk at the time, otherwise I would _never _have told you tha—"

"Do you remember how I said he probably feels the same way?"

"I remember not believing you."

"He trusts you," Sebastian reminded him. "More than most of his other friends. Don't forget that."

"Uhhhnn."

Sebastian stood and went to leave. "Get some rest, Zelos."

The door closed behind the butler and Zelos sighed.

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…**review? (puppy dog eyes) It'll...it'll help me update faster...  
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	7. Kidnapping of Seles

**A/N: Oh no! D: It's been over a month since I last updated…now I feel kind of horrible. Especially since I had all these grand plans to crank out another chapter right after I got all the wonderful and inspiring reviews…I'm just making myself feel worse now. But…um…yeah. Thanks so much for all the nice reviews last chapter. I'd give you all cookies, but it wouldn't really work out that well…so yeah. Uh…we have another run in with Emil and Marta this chapter. What fun. Oh, and I own…nothing. Whoopdedoo.**

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"You know, you're only going to feel worse if you just sit there."

Zelos raised a brow at Sebastian, who was washing dishes. "You're just trying to get me out of the house, aren't you?"

"Of course."

Zelos couldn't help but smile at that, puffing some air out his cheeks, sending some of his hair flying out of his face. "You know, you're supposed to deny that sort of thing."

"Mmm," Sebastian said agreeably, setting a newly washed plate aside.

Zelos leaned back in his chair. "I don't really want to get out of the house. There's too much risk. I'm kinda paranoid, y'know? I just know that a bunch of things are gonna happen the minute I let the house out of my sight."

"You don't trust me and Tokunaga to keep the house from burning down?" Sebastian looked amused. "Zelos, you should relax a little."

"Hey, it's a feeling, all right? Besides, didn't Tokunaga leave a few minutes ago?"

"What's the worst that could happen?"

"Don't even say that. Last time I said that—"

"Yes, yes, I recall. It's a bit of a painful memory. Zelos, you don't even have to be gone that long. You can take a short little walk. Five minutes."

Zelos paused. "Five minutes?"

"Mm-hm."

"And you'll stop nagging me about it?"

"Until tomorrow, at least." Sebastian decided to let the 'nagging' comment go. For now.

"Okay, okay." Zelos stood up with an overly dramatic sigh. "If you insist. But if anything goes wrong, I'm blaming you."

"I can live with that. Have a nice walk."

With a "yeah, yeah," Zelos disappeared out the door.

* * *

"Oooph!" Zelos grunted as someone slammed into him. "Damn, where the hell do you think you're—oh," he said sourly upon seeing who it was. Mr. My-eyes-randomly-turn-red-and-I-think-Lloyd-destroyed-Palmacosta. Well, that was just wonderful. "It's you."

The eyes were green this time, wide and staring up at him, as if it was shocking to see Zelos Wilder in Meltokio. This kid wasn't very bright. "It's—it's you!"

"Yeah, it's me. What's your point?"

"U-um, I was just—I'm sorry I bumped into you! I—"

Zelos rubbed the side of his face with his left hand. _So…annoying…_ "Look, just get out of my way. I don't know why you're here, and I don't really care. Now—"

"Your sister got kidnapped!"

"Okay, that's not funny."

"N-no, it's true! Lloyd…Lloyd kidnapped her and—"

"Lloyd most certainly did not kidnap my sister."

"Y-yes he did! And we're trying to find them—"

"I don't believe you."

"Why would I lie about something like—"

Zelos nearly gagged as a foul smell washed over him. The next second, Lloyd came rushing past, Seles hanging off his shoulder, shouting and snapping quite a bit.

"I t-told you!"

"Move it!" Zelos snapped, shoving the timid boy aside and charging after the Lloyd look-a-like. Damn, that cologne. It was probably being used as some secret weapon somewhere.

Growling a curse, Zelos looked around. Figured he'd gotten away. Figured that in the whole two minutes he'd been gone, Seles had been kidnapped and whoever was pretending to be Lloyd had attacked.

"Where did that bastard go?" snarled the kid, running up.

Zelos gave him a quick glance, not sure whether it was more disturbing that he now had red eyes and a complete flip of personality to match, or whether he didn't find it that surprising this time.

"You!" he called to a woman, who looked up, startled. "Did you see where a, uh, guy dressed in red went?"

She shook her head, and fanned some of the air in front of her face, making a sour face at the foul smell.

"Man…" What _were_ the odds, anyway?

"I told you he's evil!" the kid said, glaring at Zelos. At least his voice wasn't quite as whiny now. "Can you refute the evidence that _that _was Lloyd? Well?"

Zelos sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Look, that wasn't Lloyd, okay? End of story."

"Oh, really." He sounded a bit…mocking. Zelos had to give him credit for trying. "How many suspenders wearing brunets who wear all red are there?"

"He doesn't wear all red," Zelos corrected absently. "His pants are black."

"_Whatever_!"

"Besides, this kind of thing isn't like Lloyd." He could afford some smugness at this point. "And Lloyd doesn't wear cologne. He's just a country hick. I doubt he even knows what it is. He was shocked at scented soaps, so…" Zelos shrugged. "That's not Lloyd. That's all I can offer you at this point."

"Where're you going?" he demanded as Zelos began to walk away.

"I'm goin' home. You're welcome to come if you promise to not attack me as soon as my back's turned."

"Humph," he huffed, but followed.

* * *

"Zelos, I'm sorry," Sebastian said as Zelos entered. "But in the few minutes you were gone—oh. Who's this?"

"The annoying kid who wanted to kill Lloyd," Zelos said, glancing around a bit, wondering what the girl with the annoying voice, Sheena, and Regal were doing here.

"Don't call Emil annoying!" Marta snapped, hands on hips, but apparently didn't feel like pursuing it, as she turned to the blond brat. "Emil…"

Rolling his eyes, Zelos plopped in a chair and folded his hands behind his head. "Why, hello, Sheena and Regal. Can I ask what you're doing here?"

Sheena crossed her arms and grumbled something. Hardly fair, Zelos hadn't even done anything to merit that.

Regal coughed. "It's nice to see you too."

"Mm-hm."

"Um…Zelos!" Marta was suddenly facing him, looking _extremely _apologetic. "We're really…we have some explaining to do."

"Sorry," Emil mumbled, bowing his head, lock of hair swinging forward like an antenna. Ah. Green eyes again.

"Oh really."

"It looks like the Lloyd we were pursing was actually an imposter. We…we're really sorry…"

"Hn." Zelos couldn't help but crack a smug grin. "I could've told you that."

"What?" Sheena demanded, staring at him. "And just why didn't you mention this sooner?"

"None of you would have believed me." Calmly running his hands through his hair, he raised a brow at the two kids in front of him. "And what suddenly led to you two to this conclusion?"

At that point, they looked at each other and launched into a long-winded explanation that Zelos only really understood half of, as a result of them talking too quickly and interrupting each other, and being occasionally interrupted by a creature that looked strangely like a black and purple dog. Which randomly poofed in and out of existence.

Rubbing his temples, Zelos studied the dog, remembering something Colette had said. _And they have a doggie summon spirit named Tenebie! _

"You'd be Tenebie?" he said to the creature, who looked positively indignant. The other four snickered.

"Most certainly not! I am the Centurion of Darkness, Tenebrae! It's _Tenebrae_!"

"That's not what Colette said."

"What, exactly did she say about me?"

"Not much. She called you a, and I quote, 'doggie summon spirit.'"

"_Doggie summon spirit_?" the creature sputtered. "Well, I—I can't believe—"

"Yeah, whatever." Zelos sighed. Looked like it was gonna be a long day. He glanced at Sebastian, who was keeping an impressively straight face. "Sebastian, one of these days…"

"Yes, of course," Sebastian said politely, seeming every bit the polite, reserved butler. "Hadn't you best be going to rescue Seles? Or speaking to the King?"

"Sebastian, I _swear_—"

"Lloyd might even be there."

"I'm not even going to reply to that."

Sebastian rolled his eyes, a quick motion missed by almost everyone. "Hadn't you best be _going_?"

"Yeah, yeah…"

* * *

_I can't believe I actually have to work with these brats._

Zelos groaned.

Sheena and Regal had just finished apologizing to the alter ego that had seemed positively murderous towards Lloyd. Everyone looked at him then, and Sheena elbowed him, hissing "don't you have something you'd like to say, too?"

Zelos expertly shrugged some of his red hair of his shoulders. "Oh, I suppose. I only sort of hate you now."

"Zelos!" Sheena snarled, smacking him on the arm. Hardly a hard hit, considering.

"Hey, at least I don't despise him anymore, right? Now, shall we be going? I'd like to finish this as quickly as possible."

Sheena glared at him once more, but just gave a huff of exasperation. "Fine! Whatever!"

Calmly straightening his gloves, Zelos flashed a charming grin at Marta. "Shall we be going, my angel dear?"

Marta turned pink and sputtered and Sheena gave him another glare. With bared teeth. Zelos just winked at her.

"Jealous, Sheena?"

"Oh, just shut up, you idiot Chosen!"

"Hey, hey. That doesn't work anymore. You have to call me idiot _ex_-Chosen."

"Just shut up already!"

"You're so angry already."

"That's your fault!"

"Really? I thought I was just being the nice, polite guy I always am."

"Nice? Polite? You? Yeah, right."

"Oh, yes. Two of my most wonderful qualities, along with my beauty and—"

"Just because those gaudy women can't keep their hands off you doesn't mean—"

"Why, Sheena, you _do _seem to be jealous!"

She slammed her fist into his arm, generating a loud _yeowch _from him. "I'll smack you," she warned.

"You already smacked me! The point of warning, my _dear _Sheena, is that they _warn _people!"

"I'll smack you again!"

"Okay, okay! Sheesh." Damn. That was going to bruise later.

Marta and Emil were staring openly at the two of them. Regal only sighed.

Some things never changed, did they?

* * *

Yuan and Lloyd had a little routinegoing. Every morning, Lloyd would disappear until lunchtime, when he would come back to eat a sandwich. Lloyd always called this sandwich the "king of all sandwiches" as he piled the ingredients on it, seeming to almost see it as another of his projects, the same as the carvings and crafts he made. He'd always turn his nose up at the tomato Yuan half-jokingly offered him, putting lemon in instead. Which Yuan would never understand. Lloyd would then lounge around and then, right at the _exact _moment that Yuan really got into his book, he was declare loudly that he was bored.

_Then _do _something about it_, Yuan would snap every afternoon, and Lloyd would continue bothering him—_But I'm _bored_, Yuan!—_for as long as it took him to get bored with that, too.

But lately, Lloyd had been slumping. Right now, for example, he was staring forlornly at the sandwich ingredients, chin resting on his folded arms, kicking the ground every so often, and sighing every few minutes.

Yuan narrowed his eyes at the brunette for a moment, but ignored him in favor of reading his book. Of course, Lloyd would bother him in a few pages—as always—but Yuan could get a little bit into his book.

Fifty pages later, nothing had bothered him. Yuan paused, then glared suspiciously at the red clad hero. Yuan snapped the book closed suddenly, in an attempt to break the silence, but Lloyd continued staring at the bread, not even moving.

"Lloyd, I know what you're trying to do. It's not going to work."

Lloyd very slowly turned his head to look at the blue-haired seraph. "What?" His voice was weary. And tired. So tired.

"You think that by throwing off the routine, you can catch me off-guard, don't you? Did you really think that would work against me? I spent thousands of years with your father of all people! I was a companion to Mithos the—" Yuan stopped, and squinted at Lloyd. "Hey. You sound…depressed."

Lloyd sighed again and returned to staring dolefully at the bread. "I'm not depressed."

Yuan raised a skeptical brow. "It's about not seeing your friends, isn't it?"

"No." A pause. "Maybe a little."

"So go visit them."

"_No_! They think I'm a crazy murderer! They'd kill me!"

"I'm sure not _all _of them think that," Yuan said, trying to be consoling. Of course, he really wasn't the consoling _type_. That was Lloyd's job. That was Martel's job. "You could go…visit Colette. Or that half-elf brat. Genis."

Lloyd was frowning now, which was better than just staring blankly, depressedly off into space. "No. I can't do that."

"They're your friends, aren't they?"

"I don't know anymore." Lloyd was grumbling into his arms now, and Yuan was glad for his angelic senses. "They probably hate me. Colette'd probably kill me or something."

"Somehow I doubt that."

"Genis probably would."

"Wasn't he supposed to be your best friend?"

Lloyd's frown deepened.

"Fine. Then what about…" Yuan paused, trying to remember the names of all of Lloyd's old friends. "Raine? She should trust you."

"She's the least likely to trust me. You obviously don't know her that well."

Yuan was getting fed up with this. A depressed Lloyd wasn't very likable. A bit annoying, actually. "What about Presea?"

"Yuan, _no_. Have you seen the size of her axe? It's huge!"

Yuan couldn't help but smile at that. "If Zelos were here, he'd no doubt have something to say about that. Oh, you could see him…"

He could see Lloyd's wry grin before it was forced away. "That's disgusting. And—no! No. Just…no. I'm not seeing Zelos."

Jackpot. Yuan leaned back, steepled his fingers, and smiled. "Why not?"

"He thinks I'm a—"

"You trust him, don't you?"

"I trust all my fr—"

"He trusts you, doesn't he?"

"How should I know? None of my friends tr—"

"Weren't you travelling with him? Just the two of you?"

Lloyd groaned, hiding under his arms. "Yuan, can we not talk about this?"

Oh, that was definitely jackpot. "No. We can't. You were acting depressed, and—"

"I'm not depressed anymore! I'm fine! See? I'm smiling!" Lloyd grinned overly cheerfully at Yuan, who gave him a skeptical look.

"Why don't you just duck into Meltokio and say hi to him? It doesn't even have to be a long visit if you dislike seeing him that much."

"No," Lloyd muttered. "I want to see him. I just…don't want him to kill me."

"You want to see him?" Yuan couldn't keep at least part of the grin off his face. Time to move in for the kill.

"So what if I do?" Lloyd snapped defensively. "I like Zelos! He's…a good friend. He's…I like being around him, okay?"

"Well, you'll be happy to hear his sister got kidnapped, then."

"_What_?" Lloyd sputtered. "No! No, I would _not _be happy to hear that! That's _not a good thing_!"

"Well, it'll give you an excuse to see Zelos."

Lloyd stopped, and stared at Yuan for a few seconds before plopping back in his seat, scowling. "I don't believe you. That's _not funny_."

"I'm not lying. The Vanguard wanted her and the Centurion's Core she had."

Lloyd stared at him, eyes unwavering.

"Her servant apparently thought it was a rare jewel."

Lloyd was thinking it over. Lloyd might not have been smart, but he wasn't quite as stupid as everyone seemed to think, either. Yuan knew Kratos's son well enough by now to tell that Lloyd was trying to decide whether or not the believe him or not. He was leaning towards believing him, of course. Lloyd was too trusting to not. Besides, it _was _the truth. Furthermore, it was plausible. Even to Lloyd.

"At which point your imposter kidnapped her."

"That _bastard_!" Lloyd was snarling now. Yuan could tell by the set of his shoulders that he was going to start ranting. "First he destroys towns, looking like _me_ no less, then he kidnaps one of my best friend's sisters _looking_ like me? What a freaking—"

"So are you going to rescue her or what?"

Lloyd stopped in mid-rant. Looked at Yuan, a bit uncertain, a bit troubled.

"You'd get to see Zelos…"

Lloyd's lips twitched, and he looked away.

"And I know where she would have been taken."

Lloyd paused, then nodded. Grudgingly, of course. He was Lloyd. He was stubborn.

"Okay."

And they'd both pretend that it wasn't the fact that it was _Zelos's _sister that had moved Lloyd into action so vehemently.

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**A/N: Ugh, writing/rewriting the canon parts is so difficult for me. Hopefully I didn't butcher it too badly… –Needs to go over the rest of the story again- Blah. Till next time, guys. Hopefully less of a wait than this one. (On a related note, writer's block is the evillest thing ever.)**

**Please feed the Review Monster.**


	8. Working with brats

**A/N: Hallo there. Here's the new chapter. Let's just say you're all very lucky that I wrote this _before _I got writer's blocked. Shorter than I'd like, but meh. It'll do. It's the next chapter that I really look forward to writing, even if I am afraid I'll butcher it slightly. As always, massive hugs to all my lovely reviewers. Let's see how this goes.  
**

* * *

Reading people was a surprisingly easy skill to pick up. Even those who thought they were so successfully hiding what they thought gave themselves away. More times than not, these people who thought they were so well hidden away showed on their faces, _right there_, exactly what they were thinking, if you were watching and knew enough of the subtle language to read it well. Too often, the only thing getting in the way of people reading others was their own insecurities, their own doubt, not knowing whether or not what they thought they saw was really there.

Of course, Lloyd was one of the easiest people Zelos had ever read. He didn't have many secrets. If asked, he'd tell you the whole truth about himself. If he was angry, he'd _look _angry, and if he was irritated and groggy in the mornings, then he'd show that. He'd look as confused as he was, as frustrated as he was and as foolishly determined as he was.

Marta and Emil were much the same. Not quite as easy to read as Lloyd, but Lloyd at least had those subtle nuances that you only caught after knowing him for quite awhile. These two were…quite frankly, boring. All they saw was what was in front of them, and that was rather uninteresting. He knew how to read Sheena and Regal, of course, as he'd spent a good amount of time with them not too long ago. Not that it had been _that_ recent, but the two of them hadn't really changed that much.

He sincerely doubted, however, that any of them could read him as well as they thought they could. Knowing how to read people had it's advantages besides the obvious. It also taught you how to not be read so well. Oh, he knew he couldn't be quite as mysterious and difficult to read as he'd _like_, but he did know that his hands would inevitably give him away, if not hidden. Hands reacted more than even the face in some circumstances, twitching as the person the hands belonged to considered strangling the person in front of them, clenching with anger at whatever said person had just said, fingers fiddling with each other in nervousness.

Still, though, these four hadn't had the leisure time to just sit around and watch people go by in their little squabbles and ordeals. He'd had time to figure all this out. It more often than not put him a step ahead of the rest of the crowd.

And this crowd he was currently travelling with (temporarily, he reassured himself) just had _no _idea how much he was going to gloat after all this was over. Or how much he was going to snarl at Lloyd. Actually, he was rather looking forward to that.

The timid Emil was studying him curiously. Zelos very plainly ignored him, not really wanting to talk to the ignorant kid who'd wanted to kill Lloyd just a few hours ago.

"Why do you always have your hands in your pockets?" he burst out suddenly. "Wouldn't it…m-make more sense if your hands were cl-closer to your sword?"

Zelos raised a brow at him. Pity. He'd almost gotten to liking the kid, too. Or not hating him as much, but then that backbone had disappeared.

"I don't see how that's any of your business," he said coolly. "Maybe I just like my pockets."

"O-oh…I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," Zelos snapped, irritated, then lengthened his stride to distance himself from the two brats. Sheena gave him a look.

"Yes, Sheena? Do you want something?"

"Would it kill you to be pleasant to him?" she growled.

"You never know."

"Arrgh! Honestly, I have no idea how Lloyd can like you so much."

"Well, that's good," he said pleasantly. "I'm glad I'm not the only one confused by it."

She gave him a level stare, trying to decide whether he was serious or not. Finally rolling her eyes, she jogged ahead to walk next to Regal.

* * *

"I bet he's gay," Marta announced out of the blue, after being a little quiet for once.

"Wh-who? Zelos?"

There was a sound up ahead that sounded suspiciously similar to a cough.

"Who else? Regal's obviously not. And Tenebrae's probably not…right, Tenebrae?"

"I see no reason to even dignify that with a response."

"So that means you _are_—!"

Tenebrae bristled. "No, it most certainly does _not_!"

"You think Zelos is gay?" Emil interrupted, not wanting to see another silly argument unfold. Grumbling, Tenebrae disappeared. Marta just nodded.

"Of course! Don't you think so?"

"Hm…"

"Have you seen how he looks at you? It's like he wants to devour you on the spot!"

The coughing increased tenfold.

"_Me_? N-no, I don't think he likes me very much…or at all…"

"That's just obviously his way of showing affection!"

"M-Marta, he shoved me in the dirt when running after Ll—Decus."

Marta nodded. "Good thing he was able to control himself in time."

They glanced ahead. Zelos had stopped to lean against a pillar, wheezing a little.

Marta pursed her lips. "Do you suppose he heard us?"

"No way…he's too far ahead…right?"

"Well, he could have really good hearing."

"Y-yeah, but it'd have to be _really _good."

"Yeah, you're right." Marta smiled brightly at him. "Just be careful, okay?"

Emil studied Zelos, who had begun to walk again. "I don't know, Marta…if he's interested in anyone, it's pr-probably Lloyd, not me."

Zelos was suddenly coughing up a storm. Sheena glanced at him for a moment before dismissing it.

Marta looked thoughtful. "You think so?"

* * *

In all likelihood, Lloyd was going to kill Yuan when all this was over.

"What's so difficult about it?" Yuan had asked from behind his book. "All you have to do is go into the Vanguard base and—"

"Oh, there's a good idea."

"Don't be sarcastic, Lloyd. It makes you look too much like your father in the old days. He was really annoying back then, by the way." A page was turned. "Not that he's not annoying now. Hmph."

"You sound old."

"I am old!"

"Geez, no need to get snappy. I was just pointing out—"

"Well, don't," Yuan said testily. "Look, all you have to do is rescue Seles, right? You'll probably run into Zelos there. And, even if you don't, you can stick around his house until—"

"Yuan, that's creepy and a little stalkerish."

"I'm sure Zelos won't mind."

"Yuan!"

"Fine." Yuan sighed. "If you insist, you can 'accidentally' trip and create a huge mess. And then you can clean it until Zelos gets there."

"That's more Colette's forte."

"You're just Mr. Negativity today, aren't you?"

Lloyd glared. "I'll be _going _now."

"Mm-hm…be careful. And call if you're not going to be home for dinner."

"This isn't _home_!"

_Just rescue Seles, he says,_ Lloyd grumbled. _That's all. _He could have given a little bit more instruction. Like, maybe…be careful of the wandering Vanguard all around. It was only by sheer luck that he hadn't been caught already.

Cautiously entering a large, open room, Lloyd glanced around. Wandering empty halls alone was nervewracking. Entering seemingly empty rooms—especially ones this big—was even more nerve-wracking. If possible. Seriously, if he died from stress and anxiety here, he was blaming Yuan.

He heard the snarl before he heard the footsteps slamming into the ground. Lloyd was barely able to dodge before the war cry started, a sword slamming into the ground where he'd been.

"AAAAAAAAAUGH!" Lloyd screamed at the top of him lungs, yanking his left sword free to block the next sword swing. He took a step back and grabbed his other sword, staring at the enraged attacked. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded, staring at his apparent twin. Kratos hadn't told him about any other siblings…

Something clicked in his head. This was probably why everyone thought he had attacked those towns. Feeling smug at his discovery, Lloyd didn't parry the next swing until too late, and it sliced into his arm.

Lloyd snarled. Zelos had _better _show up and heal his arm, or…or Yuan was going to be in a _lot _of trouble.

* * *

"I'll go look for her," Regal offered, then was gone before anyone could protest. Zelos stared at the hole Sheena had fallen down in dismay.

How could this possibly, conceivably happen? Did whatever gods of fate there were hate him? Did they have some sort of grudge against him? How did one person—who was supposed to be the chief of _freaking Mizuho_—fall down _that _many holes? Okay, he could understand falling down a few holes, especially when Colette was involved, as she had been at the Ossa trail. But this…this was pushing it. It was pushing the limits of his patience. Clearly, Sheena had been spending far too much time around Colette.

Furthermore, both Sheena and Regal were _abandoning _him with these whiny brats. That was not cool. Especially since Marta apparently thought he had a thing for Emil.

As if.

"I guess we better get going, huh?" Emil said, offering a bit of a smile. Cute, if it'd been on a girl. Zelos sighed wearily.

"Whatev—"

Then, in the distance, a scream of terror. Or yell. Definitely Lloyd's voice. That's meant either that Lloyd was here, or Lloyd's imposter was here, and they were terrified. Or very surprised. And that they were at least going in the right direction. Still pretty far away, but not miles and miles, as he'd feared.

"Zelos?" Marta prodded. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, fine. We'd probably better hurry, though."

If that was Lloyd…

_Whatever will be, will be._

Hopefully Lloyd could take care of himself.

* * *

"I don't think Zelos likes me very much," Marta said.

Emil glanced at Marta, then at the pink-clad Chosen, who was walking ahead of them. "I think he l-likes you well enough," he muttered.

"He's always glaring at me. I think he's jealous."

"Of what?" Tenebrae was suddenly in between them. "Your girlish looks? The flowers in your hair? Your absolutely musical voice?"

Marta glared at the Centurion for a split second, then shook her head. "No," she said, as if Tenebrae had been entirely serious. "I'm telling you, he's gay and he wants _my _Emil."

There was a loud groaning sound from up ahead.

"Well, either he has _really _good hearing or he's got a massive headache," Marta said.

"O-or both," Emil said.

* * *

And there stood Lloyd, in all his red-clad, suspenders-wearing glory.

In fact, there stood _two _Lloyds in red-clad, suspenders-wearing glory.

And they were fighting.

Zelos sighed.

_Well, this complicates things._

* * *

**A/N: I know, I know, I'm mean to end it there. -hides from pitchforks-  
**


	9. Two Lloyds are better than one

**A/N: I'm BACK! I'm so sorry for the long absence…but my life was absolutely insane and then I couldn't remember what happened next in DotNW. But yeah. I'm back now.**

**SPEAKING of which. You know what's really, REALLY painful? More painful than getting fifteen tetanus shots in your arm? More mind frying and brain cell killing than reading ****Twilight ****while being whacked in the head with a mallet repeatedly WHILE listening to one of George W. Bush's speeches? More painful than killing Zelos and watching him die FIVE TIMES IN A ROW when once makes you want to cry? It's the pain of being Yggdrasill pwning you AFTER Kratos already has, and the pain of realizing you could have chosen Zelos instead of Colette except now you have to either rescue the blonde bimbo or start a new game. And it's the pain of killing Mithos. Yes, folks, there is something more painful. I didn't believe it, but it was true.**

**And yes. DotNW IS worse if you watch it without the clear, vivid memory of the first game to save you. I couldn't find my copy of the game, so I used YouTube to find the scenes of the game I couldn't remember. And it was PAINFUL. I watched those scenes with the atrocious voice acting where only Colette sounds right and Zelos and Lloyd sound like child molesters and my eyes and brain SIZZLED. I'm not even kidding. Well, okay, maybe a little, but still. I wanted to cry. I did cry. I cried while rocking back and forth in the fetal position, sobbing "Why, Namco, why? What did I do? Tell me whyyyyy? Why don't you love me anymooooore?" But received no response. **

**So then I watched all the Zelos and Lloyd scenes from the original game I could find and I felt better. And yes, I remembered why I started this fic in the first place. BECAUSE DotNW IS AN EPIC FAIL BEYOND ALL EPIC FAILS KNOWN TO MAN. **

**But I digress. And I apologize for the long author's note. But I kind of had to get it out. DotNW scars souls, people. I don't know if I will ever be the same again. But hey, at least I know what to write next. Cheers!**

**I do not own DotNW THANK GOODNESS.**

**

* * *

**

It did indeed complicate things, Zelos decided, especially when the two Lloyds started fighting, the sudden clash of swords startling him. It was _loud_. He couldn't remember a sword fight being this loud before. Not even when Lloyd had gone up against Kratos (and kicked the old bastard's _ass_) had a swordfight between two people ever been this loud or intense. Certainly not in his experience, and he'd been through quite a few swordfights by Lloyd's side.

"Two Lloyd's!" Marta gasped, and Zelos resisted the urge to say _No, _really_, darling_. These brats gave him a headache. "That must mean…"

"That one of them is…Decus?" Emil squeaked.

Zelos rubbed the side of his head wearily. He had a throbbing headache that the overpowering stench of cologne was really not helping.

"No," he muttered, unable to keep silent about it this time. "I think they're both Lloyd. He just split, like an amoeba, and now he's fighting himself." Martel, what had he done to deserve this? Sure, he'd done some pretty morally ambiguous things in the past, but enough to warrant _this_? No, he really didn't think so. Kratos didn't even deserve this. Well, maybe he did. But still.

The Lloyds stopped just as suddenly as they had started, and the one closer to them gave the other a wary look with his brown eyes narrowed suspiciously, with the left brow angled even so slightly up, and it was just so _Lloyd _that Zelos wanted to jump forward and hug him. The other one just looked pissed as hell. Zelos was fairly sure he could tell exactly which one was Lloyd, especially since he'd seen that suspicious, skeptical look directed at him more than once, but at least when it was directed at him, it was softened by Lloyd's warm affection.

Yeah, that one had to be Lloyd.

He stayed quiet, however, because he still had that moment of self-doubt, wondering if maybe, maybe if it was possible that he could perhaps be wrong. There was always that possibility. There was also the very real possibility that Emil and Marta would give him that _come on, don't be ridiculous, how could you even tell so soon?_ look that he was so used to. And then they would ignore him, _even if he was right_.

_And I don't really want to give it away that I know until I know I'll have the advantage, _he reminded himself, and that was enough.

"I trust you!" the not-Lloyd rasped, and Zelos jerked, because it sounded so wrong that _those _words were coming from the wrong mouth, and with the voice that had the inflections just a little off, so not Lloyd. The real Lloyd was giving the not-Lloyd an indignant look. "Justice will prevail and—"

"That does _not _sound like me!" Lloyd burst out. "At all!"

"Of course it doesn't!" The imposter shot back with a feral grin. "You're the imposter!"

"I am not! You are!"

"Make the right choice!" the imposter called back in his wrong voice, and there was no doubt in Zelos' mind just which Lloyd was the real one, and he almost shouted something out, but stopped himself. _Not yet._ "I trust you all to—"

_Oh, shut up_.

"He's lying!" Lloyd informed Emil and Marta, who looked increasingly anxious. "Soon he'll be a thief, too! I bet he already is! Dwarven Vow #11: Lying is the first step on the path to thievery!"

The imposter's face contorted into a snarl, and he launched himself at Lloyd, whose reflexes seemed to have only sped up. There was the loud clash of metal sword on metal sword, and they were at it again, swords moving almost frantically, almost blurring as they desperately attacked and parried, trying to grasp the advantage. Zelos growled in frustration. _Dammit_. He couldn't even tell one Lloyd from another now. Not when they weren't talking. And not now that both faces had smoothed out into ones of complete concentration.

They stopped again, and one of them stumbled back a few steps, breathing hard, bleeding from a cut on his arm.

"Dammit," that one growled under his breath. "This is ridiculous."

"I trust you," the other one rasped out again, grin wide, nothing in the eyes that made Lloyd Lloyd. It was obvious which one was which. "Take out the imposter. Now!"

This guy was so stupid. He was counting on the fact that the people who would try to identify Lloyd would have only heard of him. He'd made too many mistakes for anyone who had known Lloyd to be careless enough to attack the real Lloyd.

"Emil." Marta tugged lightly at the blond's scarf. "Which one is it?"

Zelos bristled. _Oh, sure. Ask the whiny brat, not the person who actually knows Lloyd. That makes a lot of sense. _

"Uh…um…" Emil's eyes flicked from one to the other, unsure. Zelos could almost hear Emil calculating the odds in his head. _Well, there are two…I have a 50-50 chance…I, um…gosh, I wonder which one it is?_

_Ask me, _Zelos thought at them. _I know. Ask me! Or just offhandedly mention Dwarven Vow #7! That would do it. Come on, now.  
_

But did Emil do this? No. No, he did not. He slid his sword free, and the familiar scraping sound made Zelos scowl. Emil had a crappy sword. He needed a more tradition one. That was the way to go.

"That one is the fake," Emil almost shrieked, launching himself at Lloyd. Zelos didn't think, only reacted, as he pulled his own sword free, jumping in front of Lloyd, sword clashing with Emil's, impact jarring his arms up into his shoulders.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"What the hell are _you _doing?" Zelos countered. "This is Lloyd."

Emil looked confused for a moment, and his eyes faded back to green. "What? Then that one's…"

The look on the fake Lloyd shifted for an instant to panic as the twin Demon Fangs from Lloyd and Zelos' swords blazed towards him. That instant was all the time he got before he was slammed into the wall by the force of the attack.

"That's not Lloyd," Emil said, speaking the obvious.

It certainly wasn't. Lloyd's lips twisted into an expression of distaste as he took in Decus' attire. "I would _never _dress like that."

"Yes, Lloyd," Zelos said placatingly but all the same wanting to grin like the idiot he knew he was, "we all know about your fashion sense."

Lloyd glared for only a moment before he quipped, "Yeah, Zelos, and we all know you're one to talk."

"Aww, bud, you know you love my clothes."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just jealous. That's it."

"I knew it."

Marta was staring at the two of them. Zelos grinned back. Oh, he knew he wasn't acting very Chosenish right now—not that he did usually—but he could really care less. He wasn't even supposed to be Chosen anymore.

And besides, Lloyd was here.

* * *

"Kratos, your son whines. A lot."

Kratos raised a brow at his friend, miles and miles away, amused. "Oh, really."

Yuan's holographic image nodded sagely. "I think he got it from you."

"Oh, _really_."

"Uh huh. 'Just go to the Vanguard base and don't get killed,' I said. And then _he _said 'Oh, there's a great plan. Are you trying to get rid of me?' and I said 'Just go, brat!' and then he yelled at me to not call him a brat, and—"

Kratos tried taking deep breaths. It didn't help. "You sent my son to the _Vanguard _Base?"

"Where do you think he gets that attitude from?" Yuan huffed. "Kids these days." Then he blinked at Kratos. "Oh. Yes. The Vanguard Base. I did."

Kratos worked his jaw. Maybe he could get one of the angels here to give him a much-needed massage. Why did he ever talk to Yuan, anyway? "Why?" he demanded.

Yuan shrugged. "It seemed like it would be funny." He caught the image of Kratos' glare. "Geez, Kratos, it was a joke. Get it? The thing you're supposed to laugh at? I swear, you have no sense of humor."

"It's rather hard when I talk to you," he said dryly. "You sent Lloyd to the Vanguard Base?"

"Zelos is there. He'll be fine."

"Oh, and that's so reassuring."

"You should be reassured, Kratos." Yuan nodded, looking satisfied. "Yesss, I think it'll go quite well." He cackled softly to himself.

Kratos was silent for a moment. "You know, Yuan," he said finally, "I sometimes think you're eviler than Mithos."

"It's part of my charm."

"If you say so."

* * *

Heights made Sheena nervous.

This was not as absurd as it sounded, despite the fact that she was a highly-trained ninja from Mizuho. Sheena was very disciplined. She had excellent speed and balance—she had been able to hold her own against _Kuchinawa_—but somehow, accidents always seemed to find her. Things that she somehow couldn't prevent, even if she had known to. She really had tried to not fall in holes, especially after the fiasco with Colette at the Ossa Trail so long ago. But somehow holes just seemed to find her and pull her through them. It was ridiculous.

Now, Sheena was very fond of Colette, because it was nearly impossible to stay angry at the ditzy blonde. Colette was…charming. And heights did not make her uneasy. Why would they? She could fly after all.

"Don't worry, Sheena!" Colette had said brightly. "If you fall, I'll catch you!"

Sheena eyed Colette skeptically. Okay, so maybe the blonde was an extremely powerful angel who could lift ten times the weight as anyone else in the party—_easily_—but she certainly didn't look it. "Uh huh," was all she said.

"Besides," Colette said reasonably, "you haven't fallen from high up yet."

Yet.

"Great," Sheena managed.

There was actually a method to Colette's madness. Sheena shifted her weight a little, grimacing. They weren't exactly in the most comfortable spot right now. But _apparently _it was important to have the "element of surprise" and people pretty much never looked _up_ and they weren't really expecting Colette and Sheena to show up anyway and really, it would just make more sense this way, really, Sheena.

Or so Colette said.

Oh, and Zelos was probably a psychic.

"Psychic" wasn't really a term Sheena would have usually used to describe Zelos. If he were _really _psychic, he probably wouldn't get slapped so much. So perhaps he was just selectively psychic. Either way, he had somehow—against the 50-50 odds—been able to identify which Lloyd was which _without any question._

And that was just absurd.

"How did he _do_ that?" Sheena was careful to keep her voice low, but couldn't keep it from rising a bit.

Colette looked like she didn't hear, not moving, still watching the proceedings below, but Sheena knew there was no way her angelic hearing could have missed the words spoken. Finally, the angel said, "Do what?"

"Zelos. He could totally tell which Lloyd was…well, Lloyd."

Colette was almost frowning, but she nodded a little. "Well…maybe he could see something we couldn't?"

Sheena wasn't quite convinced. "Maybe." It was more likely that he was just guessing. The differences between the two Lloyds had been far too subtle for anyone to tell, surely? Especially if Colette's enhanced eyesight hadn't been able to catch the difference.

Still, she might have to apologize to him, now. It seemed he had been right about Lloyd.

Far below—_too far_, Sheena's queasy stomach argued—a girl came out of the doorway. She squinted, but couldn't really see—or hear—clearly what was going on.

She glanced at Colette. "What's going on?"

"I think," Colette said after a few moments of silence (and Sheena was a little worried about all this, because it wasn't like Colette to be so serious or, well, competent), "that we'll have to step in pretty soon." It wasn't even the sort-of-almost-serious somber tone that usually made Sheena want to pinch Colette's cheeks, she was so adorable (or adorkable), but an actually-somber, this-is-actually-really-serious tone. Not one that occurred often in this Chosen's voice. Or the other Chosen's, either, for that matter.

Sheena took a breath and looked down at the very hard-looking ground. "All right. How should we get down there without being seen?" Scurrying/flying up hadn't been too much of an issue, but the atmosphere down there was so charged and tense, Sheena had no illusions that either one of them would go unnoticed.

"I'll fly us down."

"I think they might notice."

"Don't you have any charms?"

Sheena took another breath. Oxygen was good. Very good. "Yeah. I've got one more."

"Okay."

Sheena slid it into her hand and gave the paper a last, fleeting glance before shoving away her sentimentality, slightly embarrassed. It was just a piece of paper, really. She carefully creased it and muttered a few words before nudging the locks bound deep inside the seal, working towards that essential chain reaction, hoping it wouldn't blow up in her face, because that would not only be terribly embarrassing and would make her fall to the ground below, but would also give them away, and then all of this would be for nothing. Sheena didn't much like the idea of that.

"Okay," she said, and activated it.

* * *

Lloyd's head jerked up, momentarily distracted.

Had that been a wisp of smoke he had seen?

* * *

**A/N: Ok. I feel REALLY bad now. Because I just realized that I haven't updated this in almost six months. I'm really really really sorry. Especially since I love Lloyd and Zelos and I love this story and…well…yeah. So in the interest of a quick update, I'll just cut it off here and try to post more very soon to make up for my failure in updating. I really am sorry. DX Updates will be soon, hopefully. Definitely no waits as long as this one in the future.**


	10. Everything sucks

**Well, after several decades or so, here is the next chapter. This chapter killed me to write, just because it's at this point where Lloyd starts acting like Kratos and everything in the game sucks again and it's just like blahhh. Or at least that's how my memory of it is. :/**

**As usual, own nothing. I'm not sure quite how much I like this chapter, but hey, I'm done with it now. Enjoy, and thanks so much for waiting!**

* * *

It was just like it had been before.

Not before as in before this whole mess, when Lloyd and Zelos had been fighting Sidewinders and giant ladybugs and swamp things together, but no, when everyone had been working together for a common goal (which often turned out to be Make-Zelos-Feel-Pain) but at the same time...it was nice. He couldn't deny that. It was nice that the other Regeneration heroes finally admitted he was _right_ and, man, when they decided to throw themselves at some goal, their enemies were _doomed_. It really was a wonder he was still alive, Zelos thought with a wave of affection, but really. _Really_.

He had just blinked. _Blinked_. And then everything went from bleak to _awesome_. Okay, sure, maybe they had all run off, leaving Zelos to fight with the brats, but hey. At least they were here, at least they were trusting Lloyd again—maybe not completely. It wasn't so easy to shift your way of thinking and uncertainty so quickly, but they were here, and they were kicking ass. That was enough, for now.

Zelos felt a kind of unruly satisfaction as his sword drew blood from the blue haired imposter's arm. "That's what you get for trying to get people to think that Lloyd would do that kind of thing," he snarled, and brought his sword up quickly to block the next attack.

One of Emil's tiny little imp monsters hopped up to smack Decus from behind, flapping its arms as it attacked feebly. Honestly, Zelos hated those little things. Not only were they next to useless, but the ones that weren't close to useless were ones that always made Zelos paranoid. He had fought monsters like that before. It _was not fun._ Fighting alongside them was a _little _disconcerting.

Decus screamed in a high pitch that rivaled Zelos's own as Emil's Sandworm ripped the ground apart as it burst up like a whale, razor spikes spinning towards Decus like an old torture machine. Zelos shuddered. He remembered spikes like those. He'd been very surprised and very happy to survive that. Thank Martel for Raine.

Decus lay on the ground bleeding, and the monster eased back to Emil's side, standing—could worms stand?—just in front of the red-eyed boy.

"Oh," Decus wheezed. "Oh, fuck."

Zelos might not like the Sandworm, but the creature certainly made the job faster and easier. He opened his mouth to say something—he wasn't sure what he would say yet, but he was certain it would be snarky, witty, and probably jackass-ish, but that was okay, because he really didn't feel like he had any obligation to be nice to this bastard.

_This bastard is making my life _shitty_._

Something red caught the corner of his eye, and he was barely in time to block yet another sword strike from the Kratos lookalike. Okay, maybe Kratos had been a little heavier-set and had had brown eyes, not green, but the fact was...well, he really just very much disliked them both.

Very much.

"Don't get in the way," Richter growled, and shoved Zelos back with force that rivaled Emil's when he was red-eyed. Zelos stumbled back, with a quick snappy thought to Martel or the universe or _whatever _the hell was governing his life.

_I am _not amused.

She, he, or it probably didn't care, but hey, now it knew. He'd better be getting something _awesome _for this by the end, because this all was sucking quite a bit.

"Richter!" Emil's voice, whiny again. "Why are you—"

Richter seemed to fly at the blond, and Zelos was only able to get a swordswipe in before one of the weapons crashed into his gut. He heard a worrying crunch as he fell to the ground, trying to get his breath back.

"Get back," he gasped at the brats. At this point they were squealing and running. Together, even. Periodically, Marta would stop a few feet away to try for a spell, only to get interrupted as Richter slashed diagonally at her. Emil would run at Richter out of the blue, only to be caught in a high-powered lightning spell, screams barely audible over the sound of the spell itself, with all the zapping and crashing and sizzling.

_Dear god, has _no one _taught them how to fight?_ Zelos forced himself up off the ground, snarling against the pain. _Come on, come on, I haven't even gotten to gloat over the fact that I'm right yet! _He didn't like the way his body was shaking, or the way the pain was like a shooting headache, making it difficult to think, let alone act. _Get up, you whiner, GET UP. _Couldn't stop now. But, oh, geez...

He got to his knees just in time to see the demonic tint in Richter's eyes and see the man lift his sword to begin the arcane spell.

_We are so screwed._

_

* * *

_

Lloyd Irving was having a hard time concentrating.

The first thing bothering him was of course the fact that, you know, most of his friends whom he had trusted hadn't trusted him back, actually thinking that he would possibly _do _something like that, and that...that wasn't exactly putting him in the best mood.

The second thing was, and this probably doesn't really come as a huge surprise, was Zelos.

Lloyd wasn't really feeling too great about leaving his best friend behind with the two new heroes, Emil and Marta he thought they were called? Anyway, he didn't like the idea that it was only Zelos and those two against Decus. Someone who had nearly singlehandedly caused the destruction of Palmacosta and had nearly turned every one of Lloyd's friends (once-friends? Lloyd hoped not) against him was probably the easiest foe to defeat.

And Lloyd didn't like how his friends were all holding themselves away from him uncertainly, like they didn't know quite how to act now, like they weren't sure quite how much they trusted him, no matter how much they wanted to. He didn't think he'd ever felt so apart from them, and briefly wondered if this was how Zelos had felt the whole time during the Regeneration journey. If it was—and Lloyd was fairly sure it was—he was glad he'd taken the time to be Zelos's friend.

And Alice's voice gave him a throbbing headache.

There were a lot of things Lloyd didn't like today.

Zelos chose that moment to run up, the other two behind him.

Zelos looked like crap.

In the best possible way, of course.

The only way to describe what had happened to his coat and pants was to say that they had been "fried," and not a nice, golden, fried-in-butter fried, either. No, this was more of a charred, blackened something, something nearly unrecognizable. Blood was fast drying on Zelos's now-exposed arm and on the visible part of his chest—his cheek, on his once-white pants—

"Didn't you cast a healing spell on yourself?" Lloyd demanded in a low voice as Zelos drew up next to him. "What the hell happened? Was Decus that—"

Zelos grimaced painfully yet humorously, pressing a hand to his side. "Richter," he said. "And I ran out of mana and orange gels after healing the two of them. They're not used to this. Ow, _shit_." He caught Lloyd's worried look, and said, "I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

"Yeah, because you definitely _look _fine."

"I'm not at my best, but I'm not about to die."

Raine was eyeing them with an almost-glare, something almost like concern for Zelos's state, but not enough for her to take her attention entirely off what Alice was saying. Zelos hissed through his teeth, steadied himself on Lloyd's arm.

"Okay, maybe I am."

"Dork," Lloyd mumbled, and dug through his pockets for an orange gel, a pineapple gel (though Zelos was a bit allergic to those, surely it would be better than the swordsman about to collapse right there?), anything—found an orange gel. Offered it to Zelos.

"I'm not taking that."

"Take it."

"It was in your pocket."

"Take it."

"It has _lint _on it," Zelos whined.

"_Take it_," Lloyd growled back, and shoved it at Zelos, who didn't have the strength to refuse, though he glared rebelliously as he chewed through it.

"How long has this thing been in your pocket?"

"Does that matter?"

"It's like chewing through bricks."

"It's been awhile since I've been able to restock on items, so I've been trying to use them really sparingly."

"Fantastic." But Zelos muttered a quick "First Aid," and looked a little bit better.

Of course, it was at that moment when Lloyd, finished worrying about Zelos (at least for the time being) and finished being giddy over the fact that Zelos was here, _right here_ (also for the time being only, he was sure), realized he _probably _should have been listening to what Alice had been saying, because as annoying as her voice was, it might be important and Yuan might want to know. For being the brains behind the whole plan (whatever the "plan" _was_), Yuan managed to make it to precious few of these little trips. Little _dangerous _trips. Lloyd was pretty sure Yuan sent him here to do these things on purpose.

Speaking of which...

He couldn't help but feel a bit guilty for what he was about to have to do.

_Dammit, Yuan._

"...destroyed by Cruxis?"

His head jerked up, every nerve tensing as adrenaline rushed into his veins at that simple word. Name. Whatever. It was amazing, in a way, that hearing "Cruxis" still sent him in Fight Mode, even after these years.

The blue-haired imposter was grinning leerily, smugly down at all of them, hand on the railing above them around Alice. Lloyd really needed to stop getting so lost in thought.

"Ta-ta," Alice said sweetly, and Lloyd couldn't help but shudder at the sick sweetness in her tone. There was just something about it that sent everything in him wanting to run.

And then they were gone.

Zelos relaxed perceptibly next to Lloyd and rubbed his hands together and said as cheerfully as he could—which apparently wasn't that cheerfully—"Well, I guess that's that, then!"

There were mumbles from the rest of the group, overlapping to the point of being unintelligible. Marta behind them, as well, didn't take her soulful eyes from the grey brick ground, and Emil imitated her. Zelos swiveled his body around, trying to ignore the stretching pain it caused, and said: "My, everyone's so gloomy."

Lloyd managed a smile and said, "Well, yeah."

Zelos looked at him and said, "I'm glad you're back," and wondered at the falter in Lloyd's small grin, and didn't bother to shove the question in his mind aside this time. He had no reason to think that there wasn't something bothering Lloyd. Hell, this whole ordeal was probably about the worst he'd gone through, even when everything had seemed lost on the Regeneration Journey. Even then, Lloyd had had the security of knowing that he had at least seven other friends he could count on, ones who all counted on him. He didn't have that anymore, and that had been what had kept him going before.

Zelos found himself brushing his charred fingers against Lloyd's shoulder and saying softly, "Hey."

Lloyd looked up at him, and Zelos just wanted to hug the shorter swordsman so badly he could almost touch it.

But he didn't. Instead he just smiled at the red-clad one, and said, "Let's get home and figure this out there, okay?"

"Yeah," Lloyd said slowly, but wouldn't meet Zelos's gaze. "And, uh...yeah." There was a pause, and he said quietly, "Sorry."

Maybe that had been the wrong thing to say.

But Zelos didn't know how he could have said anything better.

* * *

**Well, that's happy, now, isn't it? Sigh. Anyway, next update should be coming soon.**

**THANK YOU GUYS AGAIN YOU ARE AWESOME**


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